Category: Delegate

Professor Preeti Aghalayam Preeti is a professor in the Chemical Engineering department at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. She was on the faculty at the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, & a post doctoral researcher at MIT, Cambridge, prior to this. She has vast experience in the area of Chemical Reaction Engineering, and has worked on problems of automotive NOx reduction, underground coal gasification, carbon black production, and soot formation in flames. She has several international papers & conference publications, and has recently authored a book on Underground Coal Gasification. She was presented with the Indian National Academy of Engineering ‘Young Engineer’ award in 2007, and the Amar Dye Chem award in 2008.

Dr Godwin Poi is Senior Lecturer and Director of University Advancement & Linkages at the University of Africa, Toru-Orua, (UAT), Bayelsa State, Nigeria. His specialist subject area is Entrepreneurship Research and Development. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW) as well as a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN). He holds a Ph.D in Management (Human Capital Development) and an MBA in Finance and Strategic Management from UK universities. He presently also heads the Department of Business Administration of the Faculty of Social and Management Sciences. He has published in both national and international journals.

Professor Zeppenfeld was born in Werl/Germany. After having passed the Abitur (higher education entrance qualification in Germany), he studied computer sciences with mathematics as a minor subject at the University of Paderborn. Afterwards, he was employed as scientific assistant at Osnabrück University, where he also earned his doctorate. Subsequently working as a senior consultant for Capgemini (formerly: sd&m – software design & management AG), Professor Zeppenfeld was in various projects responsible for the holistic development of individual software solutions for key account customers.

In 1997, he accepted the position as a professor of computer sciences at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Dortmund/Germany, where he was appointed vice dean of the department in 1999, before being dean from 2005 to 2009. In this function, he helped to determine the orientation of the computer science department. In 2009, the Ministry of Science in North Rhine-Westphalia appointed Professor Zeppenfeld as founding president of Hamm-Lippstadt University of Applied Sciences. His second term as university president lasts until 2021. Since 2021 he is back as a teaching and research professor in the fields of practical computer science and software engineering at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Dortmund/Germany.

Besides his activities as a university professor, he also acted as a scientific director and as a chairman of the supervisory board in different companies and has written several scientific textbooks. He is also a member of an international jury panel for the annual Hamdan Bin Mohammad Award for Smart Government in Dubai since 2014.

Since October 2021, Professor Zeppenfeld was awarded as a Lifetime Fellow in the WTUN (World Technology Universities Network).

Professor Vishanth Weerakkody is Associate Dean of International and Enterprise at the Faculty of Management, Law and Social Sciences and Chair of Bradford Business and Social Enterprise Board. He was formally Dean of Faculty and is a Professor of Digital Governance in the School of Management at the University of Bradford. Before moving to the University of Bradford, he held various senior management roles at Brunel Business School.

His current research and teaching are multidisciplinary and centred around public sector policy implementation, process transformation through digital technologies, social innovation and the implementation, diffusion, and adoption of disruptive technologies in society. Focusing on the evolving role of technology, Prof Weerakkody closely follows and critiques digital-enabled service transformation efforts in government that fail to deliver public value and meet citizens’ expectations. He was called to the House of Commons in 2018 as a scientific expert to provide evidence on UK’s digital transformation efforts in public administration. His passion for solving societal problems through research and innovation has allowed him to attract over £25 million of R&D funding over the last few years from the EU, ESRC, Qatar Foundation, British Council and UK Local Government.

As a research-active academic, Prof Weerakkody continues to publish in the Chartered Association of Business Schools 3* and 4* journals. Prior to joining academia, Prof Weerakkody worked in several multinational organisations including BAT Industries and IBM.

Associate Professor Dr. Anan Tongraar is currently the Rector of Suranaree University of Technology (SUT). Regarding his administrative experiences in research, for example, he was appointed as the Director of the Institute of Research and Development, SUT, for 8 years, and as the Vice Rector for Research, Innovation and Technology Development, SUT, for 4 years. As the Rector of SUT, Associate Professor Dr. Anan Tongraar has proposed a so-called SUT 2025 policy to drive SUT to become an Entrepreneurial University, to become the university with excellences in all dimensions, including academics excellence, research excellence and excellence in entrepreneurship.

Paul is a Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Practice and Director of Bradford-Renduchintala Enterprise Ecosystem (BREE) in the University of Bradford School of Management. Paul leads the University of Bradford Accelerated Entrepreneurship Programme, which provides opportunities for students, researchers, staff and community members to establish and grow successful business and social enterprises. Paul also directs the UK-China Healthtech Open Innovation programme, which has secured over £11m for collaborative research and innovation between UK/EU and Chinese academics, clinicians and companies.Paul is also a co-founder and CEO of CrystecPharma, a University of Bradford technology spin-out company focused on improving the performance of medicines, working with industry clients world-wide as well as developing its own portfolio of differentiated pharmaceutical products. The company has operations, joint ventures and strategic partnerships spanning the UK, Europe, Switzerland, China and the US. Paul has broad technical and business experience from the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, where he held engineering, research, product development and commercial roles to executive level. He also has experience of establishing and running NGOs and spent three years as a Director of a UN refugee health programme in Tanzania. He has been involved in establishing, growing and exiting several business, has run his own dynamic strategy consulting company, has held executive advisory and board roles in companies, trade associations and NGOs, and was appointed by the UK government as the National Focal Point for Health and Innovation with China. Paul speaks four languages (and is learning Chinese), holds an MBA, professional membership of the Institute of Marketing, is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.